The average quarterly total income per household member during the second quarter of 2011 was BGN 940.
This is 3.8% more compared to the same quarter of 2010.
The data was released Wednesday by the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute, NSI.
The main part of this income (82.5%) came from wages, salaries and pensions with wages and salaries continuing to be the main source of household income.
During the second quarter of 2011 they were BGN 494 per capita or by 8.4% more compared...

The State budget will not in any way need to be updated, Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, declared Wednesday.
In an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, BNR, Djankov said there is enough money in the budget and this is not the right moment to make updates at the time when most of the finances of European countries are shacking.
The Minister's comments came on the heels of reports that during the regular meeting of the cabinet last week, Prime...

Bulgaria's Cabinet has adopted the report for the consolidated state fiscal program for the first half of 2011, stressing the stabilization of the country's macroeconomic indicators.
"The stabilization and gradual recovery of the Bulgarian economy which started in the second half of 2010 are continuing in the first half of this year," the announcement of the Borisov Cabinet.
It contains latest data from the Finance Ministry showing that in the first quarter Bulgaria's economy grew by 3.4%...

Two brand new "high-speed" roads will link the Bulgarian Danube city of Ruse with the future Hemus Highway connecting Sofia and Varna through Northern Bulgaria, Ruse's District Governor Plamen Stoilov announced.
Stoilov gave a report Wednesday on his activities in his first two years in office.
Back in July 2011, Bulgaria's Road Infrastructure Agency formally said several of the so called "high-speed roads" would be added to the list of highways under construction as priority...

The Governing Board of Bulgaria's Privatization Agency approved Wednesday the sale of the State-owned tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac Holding to the Austria-registered BT Invest, owned by Russian state bank VTB.
On Monday, the buyer offered EUR 101.1 M for the Holding. The offer further binds the Austrian-registered company to buy 5 000 metric tons of Bulgarian tobacco a year in the next 5 years. The company has also slated BGN 7 M in its investment program for 2012 and 2013.
The contract...

Bulgaria's government will launch September 1, 2011, the long-anticipated construction of a key section of the road from the Danube city of Ruse on the Romanian border to the Makaza Pass on the Greece border.
The section in question is the road between the southern Bulgarian city of Kardzhali in the Eastern Rhodope Mountain, and the village of Podkova, which is located just 15 km north of the Makaza Pass on the Bulgarian-Greek border, at an altitude of 331 m, in the Kirkovo...

Electrical power utilities operating in Bulgaria might need to go through a restructuring, according to Angel Semerdzhiev, the head of the Bulgarian state energy regulator.
Discussions for restructuring aim at a complete transparency of the three companies' costs for external services such as consulting, said Semerdzhiev.
End of 2010, the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, fined CEZ, E.ON and EVN with penalties totaling close to BGN 3 M for violations of outsourcing...

Two of Greece's major banks – Alpha Bank and Eurobank EFG – have formally announced their planned merger, which will create the largest bank in Greece, and the third largest bank in Bulgaria.
"The Boards of Directors of Alpha Bank and Eurobank EFG announce that they have reached agreement on a combination of Alpha Bank and Eurobank EFG by way of a merger," the two banks said in a joint statement Monday, adding, "Consolidation of two highly complementary private sector banks with substantial...

One of the top Bulgarian Black Sea resorts, Albena, has seen an increase of 6% in the number of tourists during the 2011 summer season, year-on-year, a company representative said.
The revenue will also be up but its increase will be smaller than the increase in the tourist numbers because of the cheaper offers in June, Albena's deputy marketing head Yovka Strashilova told BTA.
In her words, the greatest increase in terms of foreign tourist numbers by source country came from Germany with...

Bulgaria's total 2011 income from foreign tourists will reach EUR 2,7 B, according to estimates from the National Tourism Board, an NGO.
Thus, in 2011, Bulgaria's income from foreign tourists will grow by 4.5%, while the total number of foreign tourists who visited the country will be 14% greater. Earlier estimates put their total number at over 6 million.
At the same time, the total income from Bulgarian tourists will reach BGN 1.5 B, or about EUR 770 M, the Board has estimated, as cited...

Bulgaria's Cabinet could complete the privatization of the "Freight Services" unit of state railways operator BDZ Holding within six months, according to Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski.
Moskovski told BNR Sunday that the plan for reforms of the vastly troubled state railway company coordinated with the World Bank called for the splitting of BDZ "Passenger Services" from BDZ "Freight Services."
"The privatization of the freight railway services unit itself will be carried out by the...

The CEO of Lukoil Bulgaria, Valentin Zlatev, remains unwavering the company has not committed any tax or Customs law violations.
"Lukoil does not have even one citation for tax and Customs violations," Zlatev is quoted saying. He was adamant that Lukoil never stopped fulfilling the requirements of Order 3 for the installment of electronic measuring devices to be connected to the National Revenue Agency, NRA, and the Customs Agency.
Zlatev made the statement during a press conference in...

Building construction in Bulgaria is the cheapest in Europe, according to a comparative analysis of the EC Harris company, specializing in construction consulting.
The Bulgarian Trud (Labor) daily writes Saturday, citing the analysis, that expenses for construction in Bulgaria are anywhere between 38% and 66% from those in Southeastern UK, which was used as basis.
The study takes into account the price of construction material and labor expenses. Values in Bulgaria vary since buildings...

Bulgaria's popular southern Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach wants British police officers to patrol it during the next tourist season.
"We are sure this would be a fairly effective way of collaboration, because it would improve the tourists' security. It would create some respect in our foreign guests who break and demolish things, create conflicts and offend police officers," Georgi Nedelchev, chair of the Sunny Beach hotel owners' union, said.
Nedelchev was positive that the police...

The number of arrivals of visitors from abroad to Bulgaria in July 2011 was 1 609 900, which indicates a 2.6% increase year on year, the country's National Statistical Institute says.
Tourism is the main reason for the increase, as the arrivals with holiday and recreation purpose increased by 4.7% compared to the corresponding month of 2010 and composed the greatest share of the total number of foreigners visited Bulgaria – 60.9%
A total of 25% of the visitors passed transit, while 6.7...

Bulgaria's government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and his center-right GERB party will not raise taxes until its term ends in 2013, the country's Finance Minister and Deputy PM Simeon Djankov promised Thursday.
In in interview for the Bulgarian National Television, Djankov also revealed he has reached a consensus with Interior Minister and fellow-Deputy PM Tsvetan Tsvetanov concerning the "new state budget balance" issue.
Recently, the Finance Minister stated that the Bulgarian...

The chaotic urban development of the Bulgarian Black Sea resorts has been exposed as the Regional Development Ministry is trying to figure out how many tourists reside in each one of them over the summer.
"The Bulgarian state will not pour a single buck into the construction of water purification facilities in the resorts until it gets precise data about the residents of each municipality from at least three sources," Bulgarian Regional Development Minister Rosen Plevneliev declared...

A peculiar tourist attraction – a 45-meter-long artificial dinosaur has arrived in Bulgaria's Black Sea capital Varna.
The curious are welcome to take a tour inside the giant Hollywood-manufactured beast and feel its heartbeat and breathing, as well as experience a variety of visual and sound effects.
The "creature" is one of only seven existing in the world, the Bulgarian BGNES news agency says, pointing out they trigger immense interest in all cities they travel through.
The...

Bulgaria's Cabinet has assigned the management of the future civilian airport at the Black Sea town of Balchik to Sofia International Airport.
“Sofia Airport, whose parent organization is the Ministry of Transport, IT and Communications, has sufficient management experience that will guarantee the execution of the project [for Balchik Airport]. This will create an opportunity for Balchik Airport to start accepting civilian flights shortly,” the Bulgarian government said in its announcement...

Bulgaria's Cabinet has declared the road from the Danube city of Ruse on the Romanian border to the Makaza Pass on the Greece border to be a project "of national importance" in a long-awaited move.
The Ruse-Makaza road linking Romania and Greece through Central Bulgaria is supposed to be part of the Pan-European Transport Corridor No. 9 leading from Helsinki, the Baltic states, Moscow, Kiev, and Bucharest to the Greek port of Alexandroupolis on the Aegean.
The international transport...